Question: Express this quotient in scientific notation: ${\frac{3.150\times 10^{5}} {5.0\times 10^{4}}}$
Answer: Start by collecting like terms together. $= {\frac{3.150} {5.0}} \times{\frac{10^{5}} {10^{4}}}$ Then divide each term separately. When dividing exponents with the same base, subtract their powers. $= 0.63 \times 10^{5\,-\,4}$ $= 0.63 \times 10^{1}$ To write the answer correctly in scientific notation, the first number needs to be between $1$ and $10$ . In this case, we need to move the decimal one position to the right without changing the value of our answer. $ $ We can use the fact that $0.63$ is the same as $6.30 \div 10$ , or $6.30 \times 10^{-1}$ $ = {6.30 \times 10^{-1}} \times 10^{1} $ $= 6.30\times 10^{0}$